When reaching for your favorite pumpkin recipes in fall don’t miss this creamy Pumpkin Soup! It’s a favorite slow cooker recipe full of fresh pumpkin, potatoes, onions and warm spices blended into a delicious soup you’ll love. Great for Thanksgiving or any time you are craving a cozy fall recipe for a cold night.
Pumpkin lovers will crave this creamy soup. The fall flavors and thick, creamy texture is soul-warming. For those who aren’t big pumpkin fans the soup has a mild pumpkin flavor thanks to being combined with potatoes and onion. The blended soup has a delicious flavor and is so comforting.
The flavor will continue to develop when it’s chilled in the refrigerator and taste even better the next day! This easy slow cooker pumpkin soup is great served with fresh crusty bread!
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Recipe Ingredient Notes
Pumpkin. This recipe uses fresh pumpkin and we recommend pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkins. They are small, usually 2-3 pounds in size. Their flesh is flavorful and they are used for cooking (versus Halloween carving pumpkins).
They are readily available in the fall during pumpkin season in the grocery store and at Farmer’s Markets. You’ll need 2 pounds of pumpkin peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces (notes on how to do that below).
Russet potatoes. Use three medium size russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Yellow onion. Two medium onions peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces.
Vegetable broth or vegetable stock. Use low sodium vegetable broth. This is 1 quart so you’ll just need one carton.
Spices. We use cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger along with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. The soup is very ‘flavor flexible’ so many other spice combinations could be used (see Variations).
Heavy cream. Just 1/3 cup is stirred in after cooking to give the soup a rich creamy texture.
How to prep fresh pumpkin
You’ll need a large sharp knife and either a vegetable peeler (preferred) or paring knife. It takes a bit of time to prepare the pumpkin for making the crockpot pumpkin soup but is rewarding to use fresh pumpkin!
- Rinse the outside of the pumpkin and pat dry with paper towels.
- Cut the pumpkin in half stem to end.
- Scoop out and discard the inner membrane and seeds (save the seeds to make roasted pumpkin seeds). If some of the membrane is still attached, don’t worry about it.
- Slice the pumpkin into 1-inch wide strips.
- Remove the outer skin with the vegetable peeler.
- Cut each strip into 1-inch cubes.
- If there is inside membrane still attached cut that side of the pumpkin cube with a paring knife to remove and discard the membrane.
How to make Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup
Printable recipe card at the end of the post.
STEP 1. Add ingredients
Using a 6 quart slow cooker, add the prepared pumpkin, onion, potatoes, vegetable broth, and spices to the slow cooker (photos 1-5). Stir to combine (photo 6).
STEP 2. Cook
Place the lid on the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or until the potatoes and pumpkin are cooked through.
STEP 3. Blend
Use an immersion blender (stick blender) to puree all ingredients into a thick soup (photos 7-8). Stir in the cream and serve.
STEP 4. Serve
Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), a drizzle of additional cream and/or chopped fresh parsley.
Substitutions ideas
Don’t want to use fresh pumpkin? Substitute 40 ounces of canned pumpkin. Use 100% pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling.
Want to make it vegan soup? Substitute coconut milk for heavy cream.
Don’t love vegetable broth? Substitute low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock. It will add a rich flavor.
Substitute butternut squash. When fresh pumpkin isn’t available make the soup using butternut squash which is available all year.
For a sweeter soup, substitute sweet potato. You can swap in sweet potatoes for part of the regular potatoes or all of them for a sweet soup.
Variations
Don’t have an immersion blender? Use a traditional blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender you can puree the soup in a regular blender in batches. Be careful of splattering since the soup will be hot.
Try different spices. We love the spice combination in this soup but it’s very flexible to change it up too.
- Want it spicy? Add some adobo sauce for a smoky, earthy flavor (like in our Pumpkin Chicken Chowder) or sprinkle on some crushed red pepper flakes.
- Curry powder gives it a totally different flavor; add a bit of coriander with that too.
This soup is very flexible to bring out either the sweet or savory flavors.
Garnish with fresh herbs. Sprinkle on some fresh thyme, chopped Italian parsley, chopped fresh rosemary for an aromatic flavor. Choose herbs that do with the spices you’ve used.
How to Store
Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Make the soup as directly but do not add the heavy cream at the end. Allow it to cool and place in airtight freezer save containers with some space at the top for expansion. I love using this freezer block maker to freeze the soup in bags. It’s a mold that forms in the bag and after it’s frozen you have easily stackable bags of soup!
Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator, reheat and stir in the cream before serving.
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Recipe
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pumpkin peeled, seeds and membrane removed, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 medium yellow onions peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 medium russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- Optional toppings: pepitas (pumpkin seeds), chopped parsley or cream drizzle
Instructions
- Combine the pumpkin, onion, potatoes, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cayenne pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.2 pounds pumpkin, 2 medium yellow onions, 3 medium russet potatoes, 4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on HIGH or until the potatoes and pumpkin are cooked through.
- Use an immersion blender to puree all ingredients into a thick soup. Stir in the cream and serve.1/3 cup heavy cream
- Top with pumpkin seeds (pepitas), chopped parsley and/or a drizzle of extra cream (all optional).
Liz says
can i use a ghost pumpkin for soup
Toni Dash says
Hi Liz. True confession: I have never heard of ghost pumpkins so had to look up what they are and if they are edible! This is something I found: “So if you have ghost pumpkins and wonder if they are edible, they are! They are not a pie pumpkin, they are a bland thing that accepts any flavors you want to give them, and stays fairly firm when cooked.”
So the answer to your question would be that is seems they can be substituted for regular pumpkin, apparently have very little flavor so the recipe will not really taste the same and I don’t have any personal experience with them to guide you (sorry!). If you try it, will you loop back and let me know how it turned out? Going to keep my eye out for them now.
kushigalu says
Perfect soup for the weather here. Love the color and flavor here. Thanks for sharing.
Andrea says
This soup is so creamy, smooth and comforting.
Mandy says
I love that this uses fresh pumpkin. I used a sugar pumpkin I had and it’s a delicious soup.
Sharon says
This pumpkin soup is so easy to make and the perfect cold-weather creamy comfort food that my family loves. Great with a side of sandwiches.
Dana says
The flavors in this soup are wonderful and it’s SO bright in color! Such a gorgeous and delicious soup to serve as a fall starter over the holidays!
Tara G says
Thank you for this amazing recipe, it was even better than I expected! I am making it again for my family on Thanksgiving!